In a setback to Vice-President Al Gore's efforts to overhaul Governor George Bush's lead in Florida, the state Supreme Court has rejected a Gore request to make Miami-Dade County resume its recount.
Miami-Dade, where Mr Gore was hoping to pick up numerous votes in the hand recount stopped its hand recount on Wednesday, saying it could not meet the deadline of next Sunday set by the Supreme Court. Instead it would simply certify its previous count on Sunday. Mr Gore needs to find enough votes to overtake Mr Bush, who leads by 930 votes.
The Gore legal team had yesterday appealed to the Supreme Court to order Miami-Dade, the most populous county in Florida, to resume the recount of 650,000 votes or at least the 10,500 contested votes. The court had on Tuesday allowed the recounts to continue in three counties setting Sunday as the deadline.
Mr Bush has been opposing the hand recounts arguing that they were arbitrary and unfair.
Following the Gore appeal, the seven judges who were dispersed for the Thanksgiving holiday were contacted. The Gore brief claimed that Miami officials had been intimidated by "protests, political attacks and near mob-like action" when they decided to suspend the recount. The Gore lawyers asked that the court give the county an extension if a full recount could not be completed by Sunday at 5 p.m..
Several hours after the appeal was lodged, a court spokesman said that it had been "denied without prejudice" by unanimous decision.
While millions of Americans sat down to their traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinners, vote counting and court actions kept going in Florida where the long-drawn-out presidential election will be decided.
But time is now running out for Mr Gore following the rejection of his appeal to have the Miami recount restarted. He can still hope, however, that the recounts in Palm Beach and Broward counties, which are strongly Democratic, could yield enough new votes to overtake Mr Bush.
So far an unofficial tally shows that Mr Bush's official lead of 930 votes has been reduced to 739 in the recounts.
In Broward County, where about 2,000 contested ballots are being scrutinised, Mr Gore appears to be gaining more votes.
In Palm Beach County, the counters were given the day off. About 10,000 contested ballots there could be a crucial factor in the eventual outcome in Florida. A judge there has ruled that ballot cards with "dimpled chads" which show an indent must be considered to see if the intent of the voter can be determined.
Whoever wins in Florida with its 25 electoral college votes will win the presidency. The college will vote on December 18th and the candidate who reaches a majority of 270 is formally declared elected at a special session of Congress on 5th January and sworn in on the 20th.
Meanwhile, Mr Dick Cheney, the running mate of Mr Bush, is recovering in a Washington hospital from a mild heart attack on Wednesday. Mr Cheney, a former secretary of defence during the Gulf War, has had three heart attacks before he was 50 and a quadruple by-pass.
He spoke to the Larry King Live show by telephone on Wednesday night saying: "Everything's fine." He said he hoped to be discharged in "a day or two".
AFP adds: Mr Bush has taken his battle to stop manual vote recounts in Florida to the US Supreme Court, a tradition-steeped institution that usually avoids political disputes.
There are notable exceptions: in 1974, the high court ordered then president Richard Nixon to surrender audio tapes relevant to the Watergate scandal, a ruling which precipitated his resignation three weeks later.
Lawyers for Mr Bush argue that manual recounts in Florida are unconstitutional and harmful "to the integrity of this election" and the rights of voters.
There was no immediate word as to whether the nine Supreme Court justices would hear the case. Legal experts noted on Wednesday that federal courts would look very closely before becoming involved in state matters.
Some 7,000 petitions are filed with the high court each year, but only 100 are granted a full review. Decisions are rendered by majority.
Theoretically the most powerful branch of US government, the Supreme Court has ultimate power to declare state law, federal law, executive actions or state Supreme Court decisions in violation of the US constitution.
Appointed by the president and approved by the Senate, justices serve life terms and can be impeached. This happened only once in the court's 211-year history, in 1805.
Since two sitting justices are over 70, the next US president is likely to change the composition of the bench - a fact often mentioned during the campaign, especially by supporters and opponents of abortion rights.
A legal adviser to Vice-President Al Gore said yesterday Democrats will contest election results filed by Miami-Dade County if they fail to count thousands of contested ballots. Mr Ron Klain said the challenge would be filed "as soon as possible".